After her defeat in Osaka, <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/02/altenkirchen-tennis-tournament-belgian-minnen-is-a-top-seeded-player/” title=”Altenkirchen tennis tournament: Belgian Minnen is a top seeded player”>Eva Lys experienced a wave of hostility. The 22-year-old defends herself with a courageous action.
Osaka – It was actually a successful week for Eva Lys. The German tennis player reached the quarterfinals of the WTA tournament in Osaka and only had to give up against local hero Aoi Ito. Nevertheless, the 22-year-old was subsequently exposed to a flood of hate messages.
German tennis star defends herself against hate messages
Despite a fighting performance, she lost to the 20-year-old Japanese 7:6 (10:8), 2:6, 3:6. But instead of recognition for her sporting commitment, Lys received a wave of insults and threats after the defeat, which she now made public on Instagram.
Lys, who was born in Ukraine and is currently ranked 118th in the world, shared the offensive messages on her Instagram Story. One message was particularly highlighted in which a man called her a coward. But Lys refused to be intimidated and went one step further: She posted a screenshot of the message and appealed to the sender’s wife by tagging her and asking why her husband was insulting a 22-year-old on Instagram.
Lys talks about hostility online
It is not the first time that Lys, who suffers from a terminal illness, has made such attacks public. A year ago she shared similar experiences and emphasized that hatred, threats and insults should have no place in sport. “Hate, threats and abuse should not occur in any sport. It breaks my heart that something like this happens so often and I will never not talk about it,” she said in a previous interview with the Spiegel.
The phenomenon of hostility on social media is no exception for many athletes, including Lys. The young German is often confronted with a flood of hate comments, especially after losing games.
“What a ridiculous woman,” “Damn, you’re absolutely terrible at tennis. Do OnlyFans instead,” or “What a damn lazy performance in the second sentence! The attitude is a disgrace, you hit the ball recklessly so many times! Useless,” were further hostilities that Lys shared online. (kk)
